You can have lots of degrees and proven work experience and successes but if the interviewer and the people working directly with you don’t like you, you won’t get the job. Know this: You will get hired only if the people who are going to be working with you, like you.

How can you get the interviewer to like you in your next job interview?

Recently, as a recruiter, I submitted a project manager to be interviewed by the Director of Program Management for a global bank. He was a commercial engineer, PMP certified, spoke great languages and had achieved some great accomplishments. But, why did the Director not hire him? She said, “he’s a very intelligent person but I couldn’t feel him. He has no personality.”

It’s important to establish in all your job interviews, rapport. This means adapting yourself to the interviewer. It’s about creating a conversation, back and forth, between you and the people in the meeting. Think to yourself, “do you want to work with them? Do you like them?” Well if you like them, they probably liked you too.

Trust your intuition. Don’t be phony in a job interview. Be real. Be yourself in your most likeable authentic being. Why do your friends appreciate you? Are you a good listener to their problems? Do you react to problems? Do you have energy and optimism? Do you have opinions? Let yourself shine and if the people who are interviewing you don’t like you, then you probably wouldn’t want to work with them either. Trust your genuine self. Find the right culture for you. Find colleagues who match your values.

And building rapport is about you too asking questions and getting to know the interviewer and potential job. It’s about having a back and forth exchange. It’s not feeling like a student again or a child, feeling like you are being grilled like a ham sandwich by your teacher or parent. If the interview is like this, it’s a bad sign. If there is a two-way conversation, it’s generally a positive sign.

Be aware of your voice tone, gesture, attitude, posture and rhythm when you speak. The theory goes…..”People like people who are like themselves.” So, if you want to get off to the right start, try to slightly adapt your behavior to the other people in the room” Don’t lose sight of your personality but develop a little more emotional intelligence.

In the end of the day, being aware of others, is a really likable quality.
Who wouldn’t want to hire someone with that trait?